Page 62 of Reluctant Chemistry

Jaz:Cool. Shall we go for broke and book the good seats?

CeCe.Yeah, let’s.

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HOTY

CeCe, Jaz, and Tracy climbed the steps to the second tier of the packed grandstand in search of shade. Surveying the jumble of jumps before them, CeCe embraced the crowd’s excitement, and as they sat in their seats, her childhood dream of learning to ride flashed through her mind.

Before Anna died, they’d talked about taking riding lessons, but it was one of those bucket-list fantasies that they never got around to. Now CeCe doubted she ever would. She reached into her bag for her water bottle and took a swig.

Jaz nudged her in the ribs and offered her a pair of binoculars. “Take a look, six o’clock.”

CeCe put them to her eyes and adjusted the focus wheel, her sight on the competitors’ entry gate. People milled about, but there was nothing out of the ordinary as far as she could tell. “What am I supposed to be looking at?”

“You’ll see soon enough.”

As she looked again, a rider came into view. Dressed in white jodhpurs, a fitted black jacket, and a black helmet, he leaned forward to pat his mount’s neck, his lips moving in a private whisper.

CeCe frowned as the commentator addressed the crowd over the public address system: “Next, it’s number eight, Inca and Luka O’Leary, representing the Rata River Equestrian Center in this, the annual Clifton Falls Horse of the Year. A crowd favorite, he’s one to watch, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.”

“He has to be the hottest equestrian in a jockstrap I’ve ever seen.” Jaz reached for the binoculars. “White jodhpurs and black boots, just shoot me with Cupid’s arrow right now, and I’ll die a happy girl.”

“He’s a chopper pilot with Search and Rescue,” Tracy said. “I’ve heard he never sleeps with the same woman twice. But then, I’ve not met anyone who’s slept with him, so…”

CeCe suppressed a smile. She’d never thought of Luka in terms of a man-whore, but maybe he’d changed since his Tulloch Point days. Then again, he might have been a man-whore all along. How would she ever know? It wasn’t like they’d spent much time together back then, and they’d never discussed being exclusive. In hindsight, perhaps that had been naiveness on her part.

“Isn’t he with that lawyer?” Jaz said. “You know the one I’m talking about, Tracy. They call her the Ice Queen.”

“That’s right. She’s always in the society pages. Annabelle someone.”

“Yeah,” Jaz countered. “They’re probably married by now and have a kid.”

“He’s not married.” CeCe adjusted her sunglasses, giving her sight unhindered access to the lover from her teens as he awaited the starting horn.

“How do you know?” Jaz asked.

“Because he’s a friend of my brothers. They’re on the same touch rugby team.Andhe taught me chemistry for a while in my last year of high school.”

“Shut up,” Tracy said as she leaned over Jaz. “He’s a teacher? None of my teachers ever looked like that.”

“He was. I didn’t realize he was into show jumping, though.” CeCe tried not to laugh. Luka was an equestrian, a helicopter pilot, and scored a well-deserved ten on the hot or not scale for his skills in the bedroom. And according to Tayla, he cooked a mean curry as well.Damn!

As Luka cantered into the ring, CeCe watched in awe.The look of concentration on his face and the way he rose in the saddle had her mesmerized. And as he maneuvered through the course, she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

He completed a faultless round point six of a second under the allocated seventy-five seconds, putting him in first place. The commentator’s voice boomed over the field: “What a run. A fabulous piece of show jumping there from Inca and Luka O’Leary, provincial champions for two years in a row. Folks, how about another round of applause for the team that hails from the Rata River Valley?”

For the rest of the afternoon, CeCe tried to put Luka out of her mind as she watched the other riders take the field. But when he stood on the podium to accept his first-place medal at the end of the day, she could have sworn his eyes met hers across the filled-to-capacity stand. He glanced away, then back again, but if he was looking at her, the recognition she expected to follow didn’t come.

As she lay in bed that night, she thought of him, sitting tall on his magnificent black horse—his muscular legs contained in those white jodhpurs and black riding boots, and determination in his expression. Where would he be now? Out celebrating his win with friends? Flirting with Annabelle Sutton? Telling her how beautiful she was?

And what of those supposed one-night stands? Had he desired them with the same fierce passion they’d once shared, coaxed them with his whispered words? Did he bury his face in their neck as he came?

Had he ever called them in the weeks following?

And then it struck her. Apart from once or twice, when he’d popped into the library to see her, in the short time they spent together at Tulloch Point, Luka had rarely instigated the contact.

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